Tracy Baxter: School-bus cameras can combat reckless drivers

Tuesday

Jun 3, 2014 at 2:00 AMJun 3, 2014 at 8:32 AM

For a fleeting moment Anthony Duvernay thought he would be witnessing every school bus driver's worst nightmare. After a kindergartner got off his Mid-City bus and started to cross the street, a toddler broke free from his mother and ran out to greet his big sister. Both of them narrowly missed getting run over by a driver who blew past the bus and its flashing red lights.

Tracy Baxter

For a fleeting moment Anthony Duvernay thought he would be witnessing every school bus driver's worst nightmare. After a kindergartner got off his Mid-City bus and started to cross the street, a toddler broke free from his mother and ran out to greet his big sister. Both of them narrowly missed getting run over by a driver who blew past the bus and its flashing red lights.

An isolated incident? Apparently not. Strike up a conversation with anyone who spends time behind the wheel of a school bus and prepare to get an earful about the reckless drivers around here who continue to put our kids at risk. Geneva Smallwood - another school bus operator with the Middletown-based Mid-City Transit Corp. - has plenty of stories to share about those who routinely ignore her vehicle's flashing reds. Some have even illegally passed her bus on the right, driving on roadway shoulders as her young passengers are preparing to get on and off.

According to NYAPT - the New York Association for Pupil Transportation - logged complaints from bus drivers nationwide and found that roughly 50,000 people illegally pass stopped school buses every school day. Operation Safe Stop, a statewide law enforcement push held one day last month, resulted in more than 1,300 tickets issued to drivers caught in the act. Mid-City Transit Terminal Manager Dan Higbie says the situation has gotten so bad the company has altered a few of its routes as a way to try to lessen the risk.

What's behind the dangerous driving behavior? Texting and the use of other mobile device distractions certainly isn't helping. Others - with probable road rage issues - can't be bothered to wait and put their need for speed ahead of safety. Mid-City driver Carmen Martinez says drivers routinely "beat the reds" by putting the pedal to the metal before her lights start flashing. Martinez believes most offenders are confident they're not going to get caught. That could change if Albany lawmakers finally decide to act on some proposed legislation.

Since it's too much to ask busy bus drivers to try to jot down offender's plate numbers, NYAPT wants a bill passed that would allow school districts to install stop-arm video cameras to capture unsafe drivers illegally passing their buses. The owner of the car would be sent a traffic ticket. As it currently stands illegal passing carries a fine of $250 to $500, a five-point license penalty and/or 30 days in jail.

The proposed legislation also includes a provision that would bring a charge of aggravated assault against anyone who injures a child while passing a bus with its stop-flag out and signals on. The charge would be criminally negligent homicide if a child is killed.

This is the fourth go-round for bus camera legislation here in New York. School transportation officials were hoping this might be the year. Would they be an effective deterrent? Only time would tell. But it may only be a matter of time before a close call like Andrew's turns into something a whole lot worse.